Newbie Duelists Primer

I wrote a semi-exact same thing in my other blog, but i’m replicating it here because I think this project could be fun 🙂

I’ve decided to run Boot Camp series, which is basic decks with no rares, only fixed, common and uncommons that teach new players about specific nuances about L5R. Everybody knows L5R is a complex game, with multiple winning conditions and varying play styles to achieve them.

I discovered that most new Crane have trouble when it comes to dueling. How do you go about it? How do you win with it? When do you duel? When do you not duel? Why are dueling decks so @#$@#% expensive?

Truth to be told, dueling decks are one of the least expensive to build to stay true to the mechanics. Sure, rares make it fly with oodles of honour behind it. But you can make a functional one that still gives your opponents head aches and still manage to hold on. In the spirit of things, this deck is an introductory primer. You might win, you’ll definitely lose. But you’ll learn about dueling and focusing nuances better with this deck (since that’s what it was designed to do). So here it is:

Using Border Keep aggressively. Know what to keep and what to cycle out from your provinces.

How to cycle your cards using the Imperial Favor.

And most importantly, when to intentionally let go of 1 or 2 provinces.

This deck has a little bit of everything. It has non-negatable blanket force pumps to let you win battles. It has force negation if you face pesky personalities that keep pumping up their force. It has a kill action (including kamikaze ones using Ring of Fire). It has bow actions and enough juice to handle pesky political shenanigans. It can also destroy pesky attachments like Chagatai’s Armor.

The important thing to run this deck is this: Look for 3 holdings in your first turn. Border Keep as necessary. Your second turn should be 1 personality and 1/2 holding(2). Then it should be 2 personalities per turn at least after that, buy gold when you can. Don’t worry if you need to use gold during your opponent’s turn, that’s what the Rich Coffers are for.

And cycle often to see the cards that you want. But you have to balance this with focusing because your Fate deck will run out fast if you’re not careful.

Overall, have fun and mess around with the deck. Try and get the feel of it before modding it according to your taste. Some cool rares to get:

Hamstrung
Imperial Adjudication (only via Death at Koten direct to player set)
My Life is Yours
Arrival of the Emerald Champion
Them Crane uniques
Tamago! (if you want to switch)
Talisman of Gaki-do